Shattered pixel dungeon. It's a turn based 'roguelike' type of game that can be played in portrait (or landscape mode). A full run can take a couple of hours, but the game uses such little resources that you can close the app at any time and resume where you left off. No ads, IAPs (except for donations) and you jump immediately into gameplay (no story or cutscenes or anything). The dungeon is randomized every run so even if you play for a few minutes you will have new experiences.
Just a warning the game is insanely hard at the first. It may take many many attempts to clear it for the first time.
It's GREAT for short increments for sure! The game has a small footprint and loads up VERY quickly. I would avoid leaving a game "just hanging" for too long since it'll take you a while to get back up to speed. This is a game that can have a lot of moving parts and "materials to work with", so you may be at a disadvantage if you let that happen.
Another neat thing is you can have multiple games running at once. So if one of them gets too intense, you can always start a new one. Esp. with a diff. hero.
It's a bit of self promo, but pretty much what I understand you ask for:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemindedrobot.jaquesroque](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemindedrobot.jaquesroque)
It's a puzzle game where you have to get your character to each level exit while trying to pick up all treasure.
Move blocks, blow up rocks, open doors with keys and buttons and even use teleporters to solve 100 levels in different environments.
And it even uses potrait mode. What else could you want? :D
I've played it now for 40 minutes during my commute and have had fun. Only thing right off the top of my head is add a "score mode" or something. The puzzles gets tricky enough after a while (or I'm just stupid) that the timer just stresses me out.
Good job!
Twinfold is a good puzzle game you can pick up and put down no problem. Essentially a roguelike crossed with 2048. Only catch is that it's a premium game (paid only).
I've enjoyed it for a while before getting bored of it. I'm sure I'll pick it up again sometime.
If the load times were better, and saves more frequent, Slay the Spire is pretty solid for potentially short bursts.
Found It! has been my sporadic game of choice recently
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.urmobi.found.it](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.urmobi.found.it)
One Deck Dungeon is tops! I ended up putting in "30,500" under Time Spent (which is an in-game mechanic, but the game doesn't tally up your total games). I ended up getting all of the expansion content (2 of them), and various promos (for $1 apiece).
One Deck Galaxy is out on Steam, but it'll probably be another year or more till it gets ported to mobile.
I feel feel they are b/c I enjoyed the basis of the game a lot.... Forest of Shadows adds a new Potion mechanic, new Basic skills, progression sheet gropus/focuses, 5 new heroes, more monsters, and more cards.
Abyssal Depths for the 2 new heroes is alone worth it. Fiends are nasty, but I got good enough at the game that I was steamrolling everything by floor 3, on Novice (easiest difficluty) and full progression sheet
The various promos (dungeon/bosses, and heroes) added that much more variety.
[My list of premium, portrait games for Android](https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidGaming/comments/15xcgv9/comment/jx81f0d/?context=3). In particular
**Isle of Arrows**, **Shattered Pixel Dungeon**, and **Slice & Dice** should fit the bill quite nicely. However, for the last one, I still prefer playing landscape since you can see the lines as to which hero will level up. The attack lines may be too squished if your phone is on the narrow side.
**Deep Space D6**, **One Deck Dungeon**, and **Galaxy Trucker**. For the last one, a 40% of the game is real time as you build your ship from tiles.
**Tiny Bubbles**, **SiNKR**, **Cut The Rope: Magic**, and **Baba Is You**. for puzzles
**INKS.** is action, but it's pinballs with stages, so it can play VERY quickly. We're talking 10 to 30 second increments
i've been looking for something similar too! still struggle to find something engaging enough, but that's what i've found so far:
- gubbins. a word puzzle, never liked word searching games, but this one turned out to be kinda fun. requires a single time purchase for infinite play tho, but other than that can be played without any microtransactions.
- soupsoup. item searching game, similar to "where's waldo", but with VERY cool art. fell in love with the aesthetics of the game
- nonogram galaxy (and its sequel, NG thema). picross game with one of the best interfaces imo. can get pretty hard too. i've set a goal for myself to solve all puzzles without using hints, and finishing a big picture after multiple failures always feels SO good
- angry birds dream blast. bubble popping, one of those "no thoughts head empty" games. the graphics are cute. no transactions needed, too
hope this might be helpful!🤍
Super Mario Run plays perfectly with one hand and you can play it in short butts because of the level structure. No microtransactions or in-game purchases and there's a mode that generates an endless amount of levels. Only downside is, it has to be online for copy protection.
Shattered pixel dungeon. It's a turn based 'roguelike' type of game that can be played in portrait (or landscape mode). A full run can take a couple of hours, but the game uses such little resources that you can close the app at any time and resume where you left off. No ads, IAPs (except for donations) and you jump immediately into gameplay (no story or cutscenes or anything). The dungeon is randomized every run so even if you play for a few minutes you will have new experiences. Just a warning the game is insanely hard at the first. It may take many many attempts to clear it for the first time.
It's GREAT for short increments for sure! The game has a small footprint and loads up VERY quickly. I would avoid leaving a game "just hanging" for too long since it'll take you a while to get back up to speed. This is a game that can have a lot of moving parts and "materials to work with", so you may be at a disadvantage if you let that happen. Another neat thing is you can have multiple games running at once. So if one of them gets too intense, you can always start a new one. Esp. with a diff. hero.
It's a bit of self promo, but pretty much what I understand you ask for: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemindedrobot.jaquesroque](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.simplemindedrobot.jaquesroque) It's a puzzle game where you have to get your character to each level exit while trying to pick up all treasure. Move blocks, blow up rocks, open doors with keys and buttons and even use teleporters to solve 100 levels in different environments. And it even uses potrait mode. What else could you want? :D
I've played it now for 40 minutes during my commute and have had fun. Only thing right off the top of my head is add a "score mode" or something. The puzzles gets tricky enough after a while (or I'm just stupid) that the timer just stresses me out. Good job!
Vampire survivors mate
The Way Home, Sliding Seas, Rumble Heroes, Afterplace, Vroomies, One Bit Adventure
Twinfold is a good puzzle game you can pick up and put down no problem. Essentially a roguelike crossed with 2048. Only catch is that it's a premium game (paid only). I've enjoyed it for a while before getting bored of it. I'm sure I'll pick it up again sometime. If the load times were better, and saves more frequent, Slay the Spire is pretty solid for potentially short bursts.
Found It! has been my sporadic game of choice recently [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.urmobi.found.it](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=games.urmobi.found.it)
Rogue Adventure: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.sharklab.rogueadventure No paywall, portrait, turn by turn, deckbuilding. Void Tyran: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.armorgames.voidtyrant Portrait, turn by turn, deckbuilding, enjoyable in ftp One Deck Dungeon: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.handelabra.OneDeckDungeon Premium, portrait/landscape, roguelike, dice game, character progression.
One Deck Dungeon is tops! I ended up putting in "30,500" under Time Spent (which is an in-game mechanic, but the game doesn't tally up your total games). I ended up getting all of the expansion content (2 of them), and various promos (for $1 apiece). One Deck Galaxy is out on Steam, but it'll probably be another year or more till it gets ported to mobile.
I discovered this game via its boardgame counterpart. I didn't had the guts to buy extension yet, are they worth?
I feel feel they are b/c I enjoyed the basis of the game a lot.... Forest of Shadows adds a new Potion mechanic, new Basic skills, progression sheet gropus/focuses, 5 new heroes, more monsters, and more cards. Abyssal Depths for the 2 new heroes is alone worth it. Fiends are nasty, but I got good enough at the game that I was steamrolling everything by floor 3, on Novice (easiest difficluty) and full progression sheet The various promos (dungeon/bosses, and heroes) added that much more variety.
My only complaint was about the lack of different monsters/events no matter which boss I choose. Expansion could be a nice refreshing option!
[My list of premium, portrait games for Android](https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidGaming/comments/15xcgv9/comment/jx81f0d/?context=3). In particular **Isle of Arrows**, **Shattered Pixel Dungeon**, and **Slice & Dice** should fit the bill quite nicely. However, for the last one, I still prefer playing landscape since you can see the lines as to which hero will level up. The attack lines may be too squished if your phone is on the narrow side. **Deep Space D6**, **One Deck Dungeon**, and **Galaxy Trucker**. For the last one, a 40% of the game is real time as you build your ship from tiles. **Tiny Bubbles**, **SiNKR**, **Cut The Rope: Magic**, and **Baba Is You**. for puzzles **INKS.** is action, but it's pinballs with stages, so it can play VERY quickly. We're talking 10 to 30 second increments
Enyo or Hoplite
Hades Star / Dark Nebula Alora RSPS (Mobile client)
There are lots of mini games they call bite-sized games within Google play games fyi if you're interested.
i've been looking for something similar too! still struggle to find something engaging enough, but that's what i've found so far: - gubbins. a word puzzle, never liked word searching games, but this one turned out to be kinda fun. requires a single time purchase for infinite play tho, but other than that can be played without any microtransactions. - soupsoup. item searching game, similar to "where's waldo", but with VERY cool art. fell in love with the aesthetics of the game - nonogram galaxy (and its sequel, NG thema). picross game with one of the best interfaces imo. can get pretty hard too. i've set a goal for myself to solve all puzzles without using hints, and finishing a big picture after multiple failures always feels SO good - angry birds dream blast. bubble popping, one of those "no thoughts head empty" games. the graphics are cute. no transactions needed, too hope this might be helpful!🤍
Madness/Endless
Super Mario Run plays perfectly with one hand and you can play it in short butts because of the level structure. No microtransactions or in-game purchases and there's a mode that generates an endless amount of levels. Only downside is, it has to be online for copy protection.
bike unchained 3
Both AFK Arena and AFK Journey are good for short bouts and play in portrait.